I have been on three long-term cruises and several ferries in past years and would like to share my comments…
1. Cruise Safety (learn to use life vests, etc.) – they should provide reasonable accommodations for deaf passengers to learn the safety rules, etc. Because there may be questions and answers session, there should be a provision for deaf passengers to relay questions to the officials.
2. Emergency Alerts – whenever there are the audio alert, fog horn, warning alarms, there should be visual signals to alleviate the deaf passengers’ needs to be alerted.
3. Whenever there is a Public Announcement, there should be at least one monitor in each and every floor’s main area, including open captions on each stateroom TV. Those announcements shall be repeated for a reasonable time just in case if it was not noticed immediately.
4. When embarking, there should be a visual announcement, in addition to public announcement.